A Horse Of A Different Color
by mickelus
Summary: What if after the death of the deputy mayor, Faith had gone directly to Wesley? What if they had used this as an chance to gather intel? What if Faith still felt guilty for his death and wanted Buffy to kill her in the fight? What if Wesley then told them all the truth at the hospital in the aftermath of that fight? This might be the outcome. Bad summary, story's better, I hope.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Same chapter, just made some minor adjustments to fix a small continuity error.

**Chapter 1**

Wesley arrived at the hospital just as Buffy was regaining consciousness, he saw that Giles, Willow, and Xander were with her and so he went to check on the other slayer in the adjoining room. He slowly approached the bruised, comatose Bostonian, "I'm so sorry, Faith. I told her not to come after you...maybe we should have filled the others in on the plan after all."

"What plan?" Asked a tired voice, Wesley turned to see Buffy standing at the foot of Faith's bed, along with the rest of the Scooby Gang.

"Think about it Buffy, why do you think it was so easy to retrieve the Box of Gavroc in order to get Willow back from the Mayor, for that matter, Willow, why do you think that you had enough time to read through the Books of Ascension? How come every time the Mayor had us nearly beaten, we managed to get away. Why did Faith not kill any of us considering all the opportunuties she had?"

"Dear Lord!" Giles exclaimed.

"You mean...Faith was..." Xander trailed of in disbelief.

"She was spying on the Mayor?" Willow asked.

Wesley nodded, watching Buffy's reaction to the new information. "It was her idea to keep the information from the rest of you. She was supposed to go to Angel's mansion to give him several pints of her blood, which she had been collecting ever since the May had told her to use the poison on him. I guess you got to her apartment before she could leave. She was supposed to meet us at the library after that, along with any last minute info she found."

"Why did she fight me then? Why not just tell me, show me the proof?" Buffy asked.

"Because despite my efforts at counseling her, she still feels the need to punish herself for accidently killing Allen Finch."

Buffy nodded in understanding then bent down and kissed Faith on the forehead, "Good work slayer, it's time for you to rest and let us handle the fight for now."

"We should leave someone to watch over her...to be here for her in case she wakes up." Willow said.

"I'll have mom come here, give her full disclosure on what's been happening and have her here for Faith."

"Good idea, that's probably the only way she would agree to be anywhere other than the graduation." Giles stated.

"Let's go, we can help Faith after the fight is over." Buffy said as she turned to leave the room.

Several months later, after a couple trippy dreams, Faith came out of her coma and slowly took in her surroundings, she was in an empty hospital room and it was late at night. Slowly, she climbed out of bed and shuffled into the hall where she came face to face with a nurse making her rounds, "Oh! Miss Lehane you startled me!" Said the nurse with a smile.

"Where am I?" Faith asked.

"You're at Sunnydale Memorial, in the long term care wing. I'm glad to see that you're awake, you really shouldn't be up until the doctor has had a chance to look at you."

"Yeah, sure, but first, do you think I could get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure, I'll page the doctor, ask him what you can have to eat, then I'll call Mrs. Summers and let her know you're awake."

"Wait, Mrs. S? What happened to Wesley?"

"Mr. Pryce is still listed on your emergency information, but he is no longer in town, so he had Mrs. Summers put down as the primary emergency contact...she has been here practically every day for the last eight months."

"Eight months!? Shit! I was out for a while, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am, you were, but I imagine you'll be able to leave soon."

Initially, all the doctor allowed Faith to have was jello, but after a few moments, he cleared her to have whatever she wanted while he ran his tests. So when Joyce Summers, accompanied by Rupert Giles arrived, they found Faith propped up in her hospital bed, methodically demolishing a heavily piled down tray of hospital food. "Hiya Mrs. S, G-man." She said after swallowing a mouthful of steak. "I'm gonna guess two things; first, that we won and the Mayor is no more, and second, Wesley told you everything."

"Correct on both counts, Faith, and don't call me G-man."

"I'm glad that you're finally awake dear, we were starting to get worried."

"Yeah, I'm telling you though, it doesn't feel like I was out for that long...a week I might give ya, but eight months? Fuck me!"

"I know it seems unbelievable, but as long as you're okay...that's what matters. The other kids are excited to see you, I told them to give you some time to make sure you are really ok before thay all rushed in and bombarded you." Joyce said

"So they're all ok? All the Scoobies made it through the fight?"

"Yes," Giles answered, "Although, Cordelia, Angel, and Wesley went to LA and set up shop there, but we gained a new member, a witch that Willow and Buffy met at UC Sunnydale, her name is Tara."

"Cool." Faith said as she continued to work away at the mountain of food before her. "So, on a slightly different topic, what happened to all my stuff?"

Giles shifted uncomfortably at the question, "Well, it turns out that the Mayor never suspected you to be a spy, so, as part of his will, he left the apartment to you, along with several other things that have since been placed inside your apartment...everything else was seized by the city."

By the time Joyce had to leave for work, Faith had been cleared to leave the hospital. Giles drove the slayer to her apartment so she could change. "Do you want to go through any of this stuff?" Asked the watcher.

"Not right now." Faith replied as she walked out of the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing her typical tight jeans, black tank top combo, that thanks to the time she spent in a coma, was not as skin tight as she usually preferred, "I wanna go see the gang...and I think I need to work on getting back into fighting shape again too, cause right now, I'm not even sure I could take on a freshly risen vamp."

"Don't worry about that right now, we'll all help you get back into shape, but don't worry about vamps, or patrolling until you are ready. Now, shall we go see the others? Joyce and I kept them in the dark about your release from the hospital, so it should be a big surprise."

"Sure thing, let's roll, G-man." Faith replied, smirking as she said the nickname that Giles hated, the Brit just rolled his eyes and sighed as he led the way out to his car.

Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of a building in downtown Sunnydale. "The Magic Box? You need supplies, or somethin' G?" Faith asked.

"No, nothing like that, the former owner fled town after the battle at the high school, so Anya and I bought it...it's where we all meet now."

"Huh! Never had ya pegged as the business man type...but then again, this ain't no normal business. Well, guess we should get all the hugging and tears and all that shit outta the way." Said the brunette as she pushed the door open, causing a bell to chime.

A familiar voice behind the cash register called out, "Welcome to the Magic Box! Please spend you're money and then...oh, it's you...I thought you were someone worth my time."

"Anya! You're not supposed to talk to people like that!" Xander chimed in from the basement where he was looking for inventory so he could restock the shelves.

"Fine! It's good that you didn't die, Faith!" Anya said in a falsely happy voice.

At Anya's words, there was a pause, then the sound of feet rushing up the stairs and at a large round table, Buffy, Willow, Oz, and some tall, well-built guy who Faith did not recognize all suddenly looked up, their eyes focusing instantly on the dark slayer. Before Faith could decide whether she was in danger, or if they were happy to see her, she was tackled to ground by a blur of long, red hair, hugging her tightly. "Yo, Red, if you really wanna be this close with me, I got a nice comfy bed back at my apartment." Faith said in the huskiest tone she could manage.

Willow immediately stood back to her feet, blushing profusely as Buffy helped her fellow slayer up before wrapping her in a less violent, but still enthusiastic hug. "Welcome back to the land of the awake!" Xander exclaimed as he gave the Bostonian a brief side-hug, knowing that any more than that might make Anya jealous.

Oz simply walked up and bumped fists with Faith and gave a quick, "Sup?"

"Hey guys, it's good to be back...I think." Faith said with a chuckle.

"Oh, by the way, this is Riley. He knows about everything and he's even with a military unit that specializes in demon hunting...Or "hst's" as they call them, and the shy girl in the corner, avoiding all the commotion, that's Tara." Buffy pointed out, introducing the two strangers to Faith.

"Hey, Red, I know Wes explained everything to y'all, but I still wanna apologize about the knife to your throat...and the punch." Faith quietly said, looking at the ground.

Willow put her arm around Faith's shoulders, "It's alright, you didn't cut me with the knife, so that's fine, and since my jaw wasn't broken from your punch, I know you were holding back...so there's nothing to forgive."

Over the next few hours, the Scoobies relayed everything from the battle with the Mayor to the current point in time. Eventually Buffy, Riley, Willow, and Oz went back to their studying, Xander left briefly to check on his construction crew as they shut down the job site for the day, while Giles and Anya took inventory after closing. Faith wandered around the store for a bit, then walked over to Tara, who she found sitting on a cushion, reading an ancient looking book. "What're ya readin?" She asked as she sat nearby.

Tara started, nearly dropping the book. She glanced at Faith, then blushed, looking toward the ground and letting her long, blonde hair cascade over her face, "It's n-n-n-nothing special, I'm j-just re-reading some books so I c-c-can teach Willow. She's a lot m-more powerful than me but-but has no real training." Tara answered, failing to minimize her stutter.

"That's cool." Faith said with a smile, "Magic is something that I have learned to be grateful for, even if I don't understand it. Are you from Sunnyhell?" She asked.

Tara shook her head, "I'm from Portland, in Oregon."

"So, what made you pack up and move here?" Tara got a panicked look in her eyes at Faith's question, "Hey, don't worry, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Trust me, I understand keeping some secrets about your past."

Tara looked at Faith a bit more intently after that, even going so far as to brush her hair out of the way. "Your aura looks a lot better than it did when I saw you at the hospital...I-I-I work for Mrs. Summers from time to time, and one day we were coming back from buying a couple p-paintings at an LA exhibit. Anyway, your aura, which is a kind of m-m-ma-magical glow around every l-living thing, but only a select few people can see, it was all fractured and swirling...the c-colors were mixing. I was pretty worried because the only other t-t-time I had seen an aura like that was on my m-m-mom just hours before she died. I did a couple spells only to discover that there wasn't anything medically that was killing you, but then, I saw it...I caught a glimpse of your d-dream, I d-didn't see much, just that it was dark, evil, and was totally terrifying to you, e-e-enough so that your heart was beginning to-to-to fail. I-I was able to pull you out of that dream and placed a w-ward around your mind after that." Tara said, before averting her eyes once again and blushing, it had been a long time since she had last spoken so much in one go.

"Well thank you for that. I do remember felling really peaceful at one point before I woke up, I'm guessing that it was because of you." Faith smiled at the blonde witch. "Hey, it's getting' kinda late. What'dya say we find out if the others are hungry, then you and I can make a food run?"

Tara's face lit up, "Y-you really want m-me to go with you?"

"Sure thing. One, because I don't know ya very well yet, two, because I doubt Buffy would much like me going anywhere with Mr. General Issue over there, and three...well, because I always like the opportunity to spend time with cute blondes." Faith answered with a wink, causing Tara to blush again.

Faith rose smoothly to her feet, reaching down to offer Tara a hand up, something the witch gladly accepted. The two of them made their way to the large round table, Riley had left some time ago and the college textbooks had slowly been replaced by supernatural research. "Hey guys, I see we've switched into research mode. Anything specific, or just preventive maintenance?"

"There is a potential something, but we aren't sure just yet." Willow answered.

"Coolness, T and I were just thinking about making a food run...hows Chinese sound, my treat?"

"Um, that sounds great...are you sure about paying? Cause we could all pitch in a little." Xander replied.

"Yeah, Xan-man, I got this." Faith said assuring them all, "Chang's is still around, right?"

"Yes, and they should know our usual _Scooby_ order, just add whatever you want to that." Anya chimed in.

"Okay, we'll be back soon then." Faith said as she and Tara made their way out of the shop.

Faith had been prepared to walk the whole way, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that Tara had a car. The dark haired slayer slid into the passenger seat, commenting, "Don't take this the wrong way, T, but I woulda never guessed you were into classic American muscle. This' a Z28, right?"

"Yeah, but instead of the stock engine, I put in a 502 cubic inch, 8.2 liter with the Ram Jet injection system...pushing right around 500 bhp. Along with various modifications to the transmission and drive train, of course...wouldn't want the car torn apart because it can't handle the power of the engine." Tara replied, surprisingly not stuttering even once.

The two young women drove through town, placing their order and sitting at a nearby table while they waited for the food. They engaged in mostly banal chit-chat, when Tara's phone went off, surprising both of them. The blonde witch checked the message, "Buffy wants us to p-p-pick up Dawn on our way back...huh, guess that means she's done with t-track for the day."

"Wow, so the brat took up track? That's cool, guess she's the only one I have yet to see..." Faith said, sounding a bit nervous, she knew Buffy's younger sister had idolized her at one put, but had been the coldest person toward her when she had seemingly switched sides.

Tara picked up on Faith's change in mood. It took her a moment to understand what the problem was, until she recalled a conversation with Buffy, regarding Faith and Dawn, "Don't worry about it, Faith." Said the witch, placing a comforting hand on the dark haired slayer's shoulder, "Dawn c-c-completely understands what actually happened...Willow told m-me that she actually sent Wesley to the ground with just one p-p-punch for even letting you take on that spying mission. She'll just be glad to have her friend back...there'll p-probably be some girlish shrieking on her part too." She said, giving Faith's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Faith smirked, "You're probably right, T. I'm worrying over nuthin...looks like our order's up, let's pay for the food, then go get the Dawnster."

As Tara had predicted, Dawn was ecstatic to see Faith outside the cold, dark hospital room that she had been in for so long. The young teen squealed when she saw the Bostonian and immediately rushed over, crushing the formerly comatose girl in a deceptively strong hug. The rest of the night went as most nights go for the Scooby gang; there was eating, research, and talk of everything from demon killing tactics, spells, even fashion, sports, and movies. As the hour grew late, Dawn fell easily into a habit that had begun when Faith had first arrived in Sunnydale, meaning Faith's lap was being used as a pillow by the sleeping teen, not that the dark slayer noticed, as she herself had fallen asleep with her head laid on Tara's shoulder.

Buffy looked up from one of the ancient tomes when she realized how late it was and smiled when she saw Tara asleep on one of the large cushions that were scattered around the shop. The blonde witch was propped against the wall, her head resting on that of Faith, who was softly snoring away with her head on the blonde girl's shoulder, while Dawn slept soundly, her head cradled in Faith's lap. "Aww! That's so cute!" The slayer exclaimed, "I hate to have to wake them, but it's getting late." As Buffy spoke, there was a brief flash of light, the petite slayer glanced over to see that Willow had taken a picture of the sleeping trio with her phone. "You have got to send me a copy of that Wills." She added in a whisper.

Willow smiled and nodded, "Will do, now let's get them all woke up so we can all get home."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A few days later, Faith sat in her apartment, going through the things that the Mayor had left to her. All mythical texts and other such items she was setting aside to hand over to Giles. There were a couple off-shore accounts that were available for Faith, the ammount of money would not really take care of her if she lived beyond the age of thirty, but it meant she could take some time to decide what she wanted to do. Finally, Faith came to the last of the manilla envelopes, this contained the deed to her apartment, but, much to Faith's surprise, the paper she now held told her that she effectively owned the entire floor.

Later that day, The Boston native sat at The Espresso Pump, with Giles, Joyce, and (because of her shrewd business acumen) Anya. After reading over the deed, the three others informed Faith that she did indeed own the whole floor of her apartment building. "Okay, good ta know, but what does that mean?"

"Before the other two could say anything, Anya answered, "It means, if you wanted, you could renovate the entire floor into one large suite for yourself, or you could just expand your apartment a little and turn the rest into whatever you wanted...such as a training facility for just yourself, or yourself and Buffy, or even teach classes to the public, or you could leave the building as it is and start renting out the other apartments on your floor."

"Wow, what do ya recommend doing?"

"If I were you, I'd go with the dojo idea. It would eliminate nosy neighbors, give yoiu a place to live and train, and Offer a potential source of income." The ex-demon answered again.

Giles nodded along as Anya spoke, "I have to agree with Anya, it would probably be the best solution for you as a slayer as well as a human being...plus, it's hard to argue against Anya's business logic."

Joyce reached out and put her hand on Faith's arm, "The idea is a good one, but you don't have to make a decision right away. However, if you do decide to do this, I would reccomend getting some form of business degree."

"Guess I got a lot ta think about then..." Faith said, giving the others a brief smirk, "Though, I'm not usually that good at the whole thinkin process." She added with a chuckle.

"Just take your time, I know you probaly feel like jumping back into life with both feet, and I also realize that slayers heal more quickly, but don't get ahead of yourself, dear." Joyce commented.

"Don't worry, Mrs. S, I ain't gonna do anything crazy...wouldn't want ya getting angry and comin after me." Said the slayer with her trademark smirk, Faith glanced at her watch, "Oh, sorry guys, but I gotta jet, I'm sposed to meet Tara at the campus cafe. Thank y'all for meeting here with me though."

Giles and Joyce watched the young woman rush off, wondering if Faith knew her crush on the blonde witch was so obvious. Anya's mind was on a different track, wondering if Faith and Tara had given each other orgasms yet, then she began wondering how either of them might be in bed...she made a mental note to ask Xander about that aspect of Faith later.

Faith glanced at her watch as she stepped through the front door of The Grotto, UC Sunnydale's student cafe. She winced a bit, noticing that she was actually a few minutes late to meet Tara, but she was hopeful that the witch would forgive her. The Boston raised young woman stepped up to the counter and spoke to the girl manning the cash register, "I don't usually drink coffee from places like this, got any reccomendations?"

The girl's head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice, "Faith!" Exclaimed Dawn with a smile, "Good to see you. Hmm...for you, I'd reccommend...actually, a drink I designed. I call it The Slayer, it consists of seven shots of esspresso, and enough caramel and chocolate syrup to send even a college student into a sugar coma. It's a favorite of Buffy's, Riley likes it too, but don't even think about telling Willow it even exists." The teen finished seriously.

"Sounds good to me Lil D, and don't worry, I'll keep Willow in the dark about it."

The slayer then turned from the counter and strolled over to where she saw a now familiar wall of blonde hair, blocking Tara's face from view as she sat, reading at a corner table. Faith walked stealthily up to the the other woman, "Ya really should stop hiding your face like that." Said the brunette, startling Tara. "Not only are ya hiding your pretty face from me and everyone else, you also can't see when someone might be sneaking up on ya, and that's especially bad in Sunnydale."

The witch opened her mouth to respond, but Faith cut her off as she took a seat, "I realize you're shy, but that ain't a good enough excuse..." Faith trailed off, wondering if she should continue with what she was gonna say, "Now, I realize that your wanting to hide is probably closely tied to the reason ya don't wanna talk about where ya came from...I also realize that bringing it up might upset ya a bit and I'm sorry for that," Faith added when Tara flinched at the mention of her past, "But fuck it, I need to get my point across and if I make you mad, well I can re...rec...deal with that later. I guess what I mean to say is, it's okay for ya to be shy, Hell, it might even be a good thing, just don't let it get ya hurt."

"Listen to her Tara, we all want you to stick around," Dawn said as she placed Faith's drink in front of her then continued to speak, adressing both women at this point, "And remember, if you ever need anything, or just to talk to someone, I know I speak for at least me and my mom, but we're always happy to help at any time." She finished with a smile and walked back to the front counter.

"Damn that's a good coffee!" Faith proclaimed, "By the way, when did the brat get so wise?"

"I'm n-not sure." Tara answered, brushing her hair back behind her ears in subconscious compliance with what Faith had said to her moments ago. "I've always known D-D-Dawn to be like this, if I were to-to guess, I'd say it h-happened soon after Mr. Pryce revealed the plan you had to the others...she d-d-didn't want to misjudge p-people anymore."

"Sounds like a good explanation to me." Faith nodded, "Anyway, I wanted to ask ya something, are those wards ya put around me still active?" Tara averted her gaze and nodded. "So it wasn't just a one time dream that I had...there's actually something wrong with me?"

"No, n-nothing's..." Tara started to say, before Faith cut her off, sensing a lie, or at the very least that the truth wasn't being fully disclosed.

"I don't mean that I'm wrong, I mean that there's is something wrong with me, that I'm not responsible for. Something that'll take time to fix, because, while I'm happy with how my attitude is changed and that I'm able to interact with other people better. I know that the old me is still there, trying to resurface. Since the wards you placed are still up, to me that means they need to be there, because ya don't strike me as the kind of witch who just leaves unnecessary wards in place."

Tara sighed, "Yes, I think someone in your p-past, who had a lot of n-n-negative energy, castsome sort of spell on you, but it's not normal so I d-don't think they even knew of th-th-their own powers."

"So how do we fix it?"

"Well, we do it the Scooby Way...s-so to speak, m-meaning research. If you're okay w-w-with it, I'd like to have Mr. Giles and W-Willow help me."

"I dunno if I want even G-man or Willow to know...what about Dawn? She's been learning magic, right? I'll even get Mrs. S's permission if that'd make ya feel better."

"That c-could work. Dawn is getting quite good for only having started recently." Tara agreed.

"Now let me ask ya another question, how often do ya walk around by yourself after dark?" Faith asked, eyebrow cocked, daring Tara to lie to her.

The blonde witch sighed, blushing she answered, "I guess you m-must've seen me walking back to my d-d-dorm from the Magic Box the other night. First, I-I don't usually walk, but I didn't want to drive...second, I d-d-don't like being a bother to Buffy."

"Well, ya got a second slayer now, who doesn't mind at all if a pretty girl needs an escort after dark. I just got a cellphone too, so don't hesitate to call...I'd rather ya call me than having to stake ya down the line because ya got unlucky."

"I p-promise I won't go out alone at night anymore." Tara said, overjoyed to know that someone cared that much about her. "N-now it's my turn to ask a question, have you talked to anyone yet...I-I mean about the deputy mayor?"

It was Faith's turn to let out a sigh, "Not yet, but I was plannin' on goin to visit Mrs. S later, maybe I'll bring it up then, or with G-man...I don't think I'm ready to talk to a shrink though." Faith acquiesed.

The two continued to hang out in the cafe for many hours more. They talked about thungs ranging from favorite movies to even briefly discussing Tara's classes. They realized how late it was getting when Faith's stomach chose to make it's emptiness known. Dawn walked up to the duo at that moment, "What a coincidence, I come over here after closing up to ask if you guys want to join me in finishing off these left-over sandwiches...and Faith answers before I can even open my mouth!" Dawn and Tara both giggled while Faith just smirked.

"Well, gimme one of those sandwiches, if you know what's good for ya." Said the slayer.

The three of them sat and enjoyed the sandwiches and conversation with one another, and when they were all done eating, Faith and Dawn walked Tara back to her dorm. After which Faith walked Dawn back to her house. "So, how long ya been workin at the coffee shop?" Asked the dark slayer.

"For about six months now." Dawn replied, "As soon as I was old enough to work, I went out to find a job."

"Good for you, D! So, any guys in your life?"

"Nope." Was the teens instant reply.

"Any girls?" Faith asked, donning her trademark smirk.

"N...well, not yet." Dawn said, blushing slightly.

"What's the lucky girl's name?" Faith asked.

"Her names Amanda. She's in a few of my classes, she's a bit nerdy, but it's so cute when she gets excited about something that happened in swing choir. She's my height with long, lightbrown hair, beautiful blue-grey eyes...but I think she's straight." Dawn finished, hanging her head.

"I wish I could tell ya that it will work out perfectly for ya, Dawn, but that'd be a lie. It could be that she's straight, but she could also have a thing for ya and think that it's you that ain't interested. I've found that most people are just blind as shit when it comes to their own love lives. The best advice I can give ya, is to tell ya to let her know how ya feel, sure, it'll be scary, probly the scariest thing you've ever done, but remember...nuthin ventured, nuthin gained." Faith advised. "And, hey, if it does go to shit when ya tell her, I'll help ya pick up the pieces."

"Thanks, Faith." Dawn said with a genuine smile. "Buffy said you seemed different since you woke up, and I agree, but I think it's a good different...it seems like you're happier with yourself and, well, everything really." Added the teen, giving the dark haired slayer a brief hug before stepping through the doorway to her house.

Faith just smiled, shaking her head as she walked back to her apartment. Fishing the last cigarette out of the pack she had on her. She knew she should probably just quit, but she enjoyed smoking too much for that. She had decided that, instead of quitting all together, she'd limit herself to no more than five a day. _If I get anywhere with Tara, she'll probably talk me into quitting completely though, but I doubt she'd go for someone as fucked up as me._


End file.
